


What I Would Risk For You

by heylittlehunter



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: AU, Abuse, Alternate Universe, Angst, Cop AU, M/M, Mavin, RageHappy, Rooster Teeth - Freeform, Team Nice Dynamite, achievement hunter - Freeform, alternate universe-cop, first fanfic, gavin free - Freeform, michael jones - Freeform, tnd, trigger warning, tw, warning, what, yeah how do tags work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-02
Updated: 2015-01-04
Packaged: 2018-02-27 20:44:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2706122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heylittlehunter/pseuds/heylittlehunter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gavin has a secret, Michael is a hot head with a stubborn attitude, and they both have to protect each other.<br/>Agents Free and Jones are sent to Oxfordshire, England; Gavins hometown, in order to track down a mad serial killer thirsty for the blood of those threatening to get in the way of what he’s searching for. However, one thing stops them…<br/>It may be someone one of them knows – personally.</p><p>Mavin Cop AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. His Knight in Shining Armor

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, hope you enjoy this!~ The chapter starts out with Gavin just remembering his times with Michael and how it had been before they met each other again 10 years later.

Gavin remembered pain.

Oh so much pain. So excruciatingly painful the back of his eyelids danced with the sight of white lights. He remembered the feeling of having a fist connect with his jaw and the feeling of hitting the cold, concrete floor. Also, something wet - Oh, that was right, it was raining. Not much of a surprise to him being a man of British origin. He never really minded the rain, especially since now it was the only thing soothing his aching body as he was getting beaten into by some kids that he didn’t even seem to know. He tried to scream for help, but that only resulted in something sounding more pitiful, and broken.

Gavin remembered his red tennis shoes.

They had appeared suddenly just as the increasing pain began to come to a standstill. There had been shouting, sounds of what had seemed like something was being broken, and the soft patter as feet struggled to run away. His breathing became soft as the others came out in short, frantic breathes. Gavin had cracked open his eyes, looking up in a cautious manner, as his bruising green eyes met with angry hazel ones. Gavin had felt so fragile, so breakable as the familiar kid he could barely make out through the rain and his tears looked upon him in such a way, everyone in a ten mile radius’s heart fell to their feet. The 10 year old with the curly red hair knelt down next to him and carefully helped Gavin come to a sitting position. His iris’s moved frantically, searching for signs of any real damage.

“M-Michael…”

Gavin had croaked out, whipping away the tears that couldn’t seem to stop falling from his eyes. Michael looked into Gavin’s eyes finally.

“Gavin, you’re alright, you’re safe, I’m here now it’s okay.” he said, bringing the young brit into a gentle hug to calm his shaking body.

This is not the first time that this has happened. Michael has had to come to his rescue multiple times prior to this, and each time, a scene similar to the one happening now would happen. It didn’t help that Gavin was a skinny, pale looking 9 year old. He had moved from England a couple years ago with his parents to come to New Jersey for a job his Dad was able to pick up. Gavin’s family was desperate for money, so anything had worked for his Dad at the time, even if that meant moving to a whole new country. Of course when he got here, not many people liked him; he was loud, obnoxious with his foreign accent, and seemingly unable to talk to other kids without bringing up some stupid question that nobody found amusing. However, one person did. The red-headed boy that he saw sitting in front of him in that moment. He would find the most ridiculous answers to his stupid question, coax him into opening up more, translate his British slang to those around him, and in situations like these, protected him. And Gavin was grateful for that.

 

* * *

 

 

Gavin remembered packing.

He was 15 when his father had told him that they were going back. He had been laid off and couldn’t afford the house that they had lived in now. They could just gotten another house here in New Jersey, Gavin remembered thinking. Why did he have to go back? Why did he have to leave America? _Why did he have to leave Michael?_ That night he had gotten into a fight with his Dad, threatening that he would run away and live with some hobos, maybe even become a traveling salesmen for all he cared. All he knew is that he didn’t want to leave, he _couldn’t_ leave. But what other choice did he have?

The day following he had went over to Michaels house. He remembers it still. A small, two story dark brown and brick lined house with one distinctive white rose bush that Michael’s mother had grown, promising that one day it would be a full on garden. (Even though it has already been almost 3 years since she exclaimed it to the two boys.) That day, no wait, that night he had to tell Michael. And when he finally did the look that appeared on his friends face has been unforgettable to this present day. He swore he could have heard Michael’s heart stop for a full second as his eyes shared the emotions that his voice couldn’t

.“But…”he had hesitated.

“But why Gav? Why?”

Gavin couldn’t meet his gaze as he spoke.

“My dad was laid off…and now he can’t afford to keep us here anymore, so we have to go back…” He had said with solemn eyes.

Michael didn’t speak and neither did Gavin for what seemed like an eternity. However, he could see the emotion spilling out of his friend without a word being spoken.

“I’m sorry Michael…” was all he could think to say to try and comfort him.

Michael looked down for a sec before looking up at a pair of scissors and grabbing them before storming out.

“Michael!” Gavin had exclaimed before following the red-head.

He was about a step outside of the front door when he remembered feeling a small prick on his chest as something small and sharp was being pushed against his chest. He looked down and was met with a face full of white petals and a sweet fragrance.

“Michael, what are you..?”

“Just take it.”

Michael said interrupting the Brit mid-sentence. Gavin looked up into Michaels eyes, seeing a hint of determination in them as he took the white rose from him.

“Don’t forget about me alright Gav? Never forget about Team Nice Dynamite.”

That being said, Michael flashed him a cocky grin as he held up his fist for a fist bump. Gavin flashed his eyes between Michael and the gesture being made towards him before slowly smiling like the cheeky idiot he was.

“Yeah, _Team Nice Dynamite_ …”

 

* * *

 

 

Gavin is changing now.

Changing into his work outfit that is. He had seemingly picked out a new outfit fit for his new job on this new day. After 11 years away from America, he was finally back and ready to take on his own life independently. He finally had his own apartment, residing in the glorious town of Austin, Texas where he would continue to work as the Detective he had studied so many years in Uni to become. He sat down on his bed, facing the wall in which his standing mirror was being held and started tying his tie. Gavin was shaking though, making it almost impossible. Why was he shaking? He had done some pretty serious cases back in England before coming here so why was he nervous? He looked at himself in the mirror and took a couple of deep breathes. ‘Okay Gavin, calm down, I know you’re back in America but that doesn’t change anything, right? Everything will be top.’ He looked to the vase adorning his bedside table and smiled a bit as he finally breathed out deeply in relief. The vase had a single white rose in it that he had taken care of as if it were his child. That rose held special memories for him.

_“Don’t forget about me, alright Gav? Never forget about Team Nice Dynamite.”_

And he never did.

But he also never forgot the _bad_ memories that kept his sights on the vase in particular.

Screaming. Breaking glass. _Blood._

He turned away quickly as he breathing picked up, close to the point of hyperventilating. Gavin closed his eyes and took deep, rigid breathes in a successful attempt to calm himself down. He rubbed his left shoulder, almost out of habit, reminding himself that he was safe. It won’t happen anymore. _He_ was gone.

He quickly stood up and decided to just go tie-less, seeming as it would be a wasted effort even attempting to try and successfully do it at this point. Gavin toed on his shoes and bent down to tie them before grabbing his coat, with his newly instated badge, and heading out the door. He shuffled down the stairs and smiled at the receptionist as he walked out into the morning dew. Gavin couldn’t exactly drive yet, in the states that is, but was just as happy to walk. The AH Police Department wasn’t terribly far away, so making the tread wasn’t too much for the resilient agent. As he approached the building adorning the green and black sign, he stopped in front of it, just standing there in utter awe and maybe even last minute jitters as butterflies were beginning to form in his stomach. ‘This is it.’ He thought as he began to walk up the small set of stairs leading up to the large pair of glass doors. Gavin pressed his hand against the clear glass door, cold to the touch, and slowly opened the door instantly feeling the warm atmosphere of the big building. He looked around a bit, feeling a bit lost for a split second before meeting eyes with the secretary at the front desk. He walked up to the blond women, whose name plate read Kara, and was met with a sassy, almost obnoxious smile.

“Hi there, are you here to file a report?” she instantly asked.

“Um, no… I’m actually here to see a Mr. Geoff Ramsey?”

Her eyes shifted up and down, seeming to study the skinny British man, making him shift a bit uncomfortably.

”Are you Gavin Free?”

She said a bit bluntly.

“U-uh oh um, yes I am, I’m Gavin Free.” He replied a bit hesitant.

Suddenly her whole demeanor changed.

“Perfect! Mr. Ramsey has been expecting you! Follow me this way if you would please.”

Gavin’s eyes widened a bit at the sudden change, having an almost completely physical reaction to it. He whispered an inaudible ‘okay’ before following the rather short blond women up a small flight of stairs. She stopped in front of a door reading ‘Geoff Ramsey’ waving a quick goodbye before heading back downstairs. Gavin took one last look behind before taking a deep breath and knocked on the door. He heard a subtle ‘Come in.’ before reaching for the handle and stepping inside as the door seemed to just swing open. He stumbled a bit clumsily into the room, squawking weirdly. He flushed a bit, kicking himself for already starting off with a bad impression on who is now considered his Boss. He looked up, utterly surprised to see not one face staring at him, but a second one. And in that moment, his breathe seemed to hitch. The others red curls bounced a bit as he turned around to see what bird had made its way into the office before his expression seemed to match that of Gavin’s.

“Michael?!”


	2. Let The Games Begin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: There are some small descriptions of some violent killings and a slight panic attack, nothing too bad so please be careful if you are at all triggered. Thank you for choosing to read!~

“Gavin?!”

Michael almost shouted, his face beaming with utter surprise and a shrill feeling of happiness. This was the new agent. _Gavin_ was the new agent. He looked the brit up and down, taking in the fact that he looked the same as he did 11 years ago, other than him being taller, tanner, and was even starting to sport a beard along the bottom of his face. Michael would have thrown himself onto his friend if it wasn’t for the fact that his long-time boss was standing right in front of him, a couple feet away at that. He looked over at S.S.A Ramsey, who likes to just be called Geoff, and saw a face almost similar to his own, except he was a little more unamused considering how Gavin had made his grand entrance.

“I’m guessing you two are…acquainted with one another already?” Geoff said, looking between Gavin and Michael with a weird and questioning look.

Gavin just stood there with a stupid smile on his face before slowly nodding and walking closer to the other two, a bit of a bounce in his step. Michael couldn’t help staring at Gavin. ‘ _11 fucking years.’_  was all his mind could think at the moment.Way too long in between visits. He had considered going up to visit Gavin, and like hell he would’ve gone right away if the chance were to appear before him on a silver platter. Sadly, he was still in school, and he knew his parents couldn’t afford the trip since at the time they couldn’t even afford to get him into college. So Michael worked hard, got into a good college, and promised himself that once he was out, he would gather up whatever money he had and go see his Gav. But, as the years went by, he began to forget about it. _He began to forget about Team Nice Dynamite._

Michael felt a small ting of guilt before shaking away his thoughts.

“Yeah, we’re damn well acquainted, nice to see you back boi!” Michael said with a light punch to his left shoulder.

Gavin flinched a bit, past trauma making it a habit for him, but it came unnoticed to the New Jersey boy as he went back to looking at his boss. Gavin shifted his eyes down before also looking up. Geoff still had a bit of a weird face, shifting his eyes between the two lads before inhaling and visibly shaking his head.

“Uhhhh alright then, Agent Jones, this is your new partner Agent Free (asyoutwoalreadyfuckingknow),and Free, I know it’s your first day on the job, but we already have a case that you two, as well as other agents are going to be taking care of. I hope you’re ready.” Geoff said, periodically shifting his eyes between them.

The new partners both gave a nod in response.

“Sounds good, sir.”

Geoff cringed a bit at the name being called.

“Geoff is fine.”

“What about Geoffrey?”

“God damn it…” Geoff grudgingly said, running his hands down his face, messing up his curled moustache a bit.

Gavin snickered silently to himself, followed soon by Michael - It was nice laughing together again.

“Get out of my office, I’ll see you two for a meeting in 20.”

And at that, the two agents left the room.

 

* * *

 

 

Gavin opened the door and stepped out of the office, soon followed by Michael. He closed the door behind him and let out a huff of breathe. He was already going to have his first job! It’s been like, what 15 minutes? And he already has a chance to hunt down some guys and show what he was really made of. His face shined triumphantly, being well noticed by the man next to him. Gavin looked over at him and saw the way he was looking back. God he had missed that face. His small, defiant eyes, the freckles sprinkled across his cheeks and nose, his curly red-brown hair that could be using a haircut, his strong jawline, his nose, his lips- Wow Gavin, getting a bit gay here. He stopped himself before his mind wandered off too far for him to catch up, flushing ever so slightly in the process. Although, it didn’t hurt admiring how much Michael had grown, especially with that tattoo-

“Michael! You got a tattoo?! Without me?”

Michael’s eyes scrunched a bit.

“Yeah, I did, not too long ago actually.”

He said, taking his hand out of his pocket and stretching out his forearm, showing off the green elven game character currently adorning his arm. Gavin pouted a bit at the sight, grabbing his arm and observing it.

“We promised that we would get our first one together one day!”

Michael looked at him, casting him that usual annoyed look.

“Oh stop whining like a bitch, just because I have one on my arm doesn’t mean I can’t get another one!”

Michael pulled his arm out of Gavin’s grip.

“And besides, we _did_ try to go that one time, but you chickened out last minute and made the both of us leave the shop looking like complete idiots!” Michael was a bit annoyed at first, but as he recalled the memory, a smile tugged at his lips.

He decided then that he had missed the brits company. Like. _Really_ missed it. Gavin caught on to the fact that he didn’t mean any harm in his statement and smiled back.

“Yeah, I remember, especially that time when you did the cinnamon challenge and you almost threw up all over your kitchen counter!”

Gavin started giggling uncontrollably at the memory.

“Yes I do because _you_ fucking dared me to you knob!” Michael said, finding himself on the verge of laughing himself. And suddenly, he was. It took one look at the English mans wrinkled eyes and smiling face to trigger it. He gripped onto his friends shoulder and squeezed it happily.

Team Nice Dynamite was back.

 

* * *

 

 

Michael led the way to the meeting room. It was more towards the back corner of the building and had one door to it, leading into a more open room. There was one rounded table in the middle of it all, followed by 6 chairs surrounding it, all facing the big monitor on the back wall. Not only were there new surroundings for Gavin, but there were also new faces. Three to be exact. The first one was to his left, a young man, looking about the same age as him. His skin was slightly tanner then his and his nose held up a pair of glasses that were above an oncoming beard much like his own. His hair was black and seemed to be growing back at the sides after being shaven off for some time as it looked like the top of his head had grown longer. Gavin’s eyes then shifted to the man sitting to his right, a strong looking man with light brown hair being held back by what looked like a pair of sunglasses that might just be a bit too small for his face. He had strong arms and strong set jaw which seemed like it was trying too hard to grow hair on it. What had really caught his eye though were the others. They were stunningly blue and he had almost lost himself in them before catching it and quickly moving on to the man sitting behind blue eyes. A red beard stuck out like orange Easter grass that matched the hairs sitting on his head. He was also wearing a pair of glasses, seeming to be a trend among the three, and behind them he hid dull green eyes. Something about his face though made him feel calm, and he felt like he would find comfort in him sooner or later. And this was what Gavin was good at. Observing, analyzing, and coming to a conclusion in order to help himself and those around him. This was why he came into this field of work. Even though people around him did the same thing almost on a daily basis, he was able to do it a bit better; a bit more in depth so to speak. It’s like saying I’m going to put this milk and this cereal together so that I can feed myself. Gavin’s mind works in such a way that he would think more like, I’m only going to pour myself half of this cereal and half of this milk so that I can benefit from it later and hopefully leave some for other people to enjoy as well. That’s what made him so special. Michael stepped in front of him, placing a warm hand on his shoulder.

“Gents, Lad, this is Agent Free.”

“You can just call me Gavin though...”

He interjected, not wanting to sound too formal in front of them. All three of them nodded in acknowledgement, and as he had guessed, the man with the orange beard stood up first and walked over holding out his hand.

“Hello Gavin, I’m Agent Pattillo, but I’d rather be referred to with Jack”

Gavin took his hand and shook it firmly, nodding as well. Blue eyes looked at him, without standing.

“I’m Agent Haywood, Ryan is fine though.”

The tanned man to his left swiveled his chair a bit to face Gavin.

“And I’m Agent Narvaez.”

He said flashing him a cocky smile and an awkward thumbs up.

“His name is Ray…”

Ryan interrupted, casting his eyes over to Ray with an almost cheeky smile. Ray threw his hands up in the air at the reveal of his real, ‘uncool’ name.

“Way to kill it Ryan!!”

He had said, which was only responded with an exaggerated eye roll before both of the agents turned back around to look at the case file. Jack looked at Gavin with eyes saying he was sorry before returning to his seat. At that Gavin looked at Michael who just shrugged in response, seeming as dumbfounded as he was at the almost awkward and rushed greetings. Michael walked over to his seat, soon followed by Gavin. As he had sat down, he noticed Geoff nowhere to be seen. Following up his thoughts, he turned his head side to side, looking for the man with the tattoos.

“Um, Michael, where is Geoffrey?” Michael chuckled a bit at the mention of the little name Gavin had given the section chief earlier.

“He’ll be here soon with Lindsay, don’t worry about it.”

“Who is-“

And before he could finish, Geoff strided into the room and sat down at the head of the table, soon followed by a girl with strong red hair and a seemingly peppy attitude.

“Alright bitches, get ready for the best low down of your life.”

‘What? Bitches?’ Gavin thought, almost appalled by the sudden aggressiveness of this fiery red head. So much so, he almost had a complete physical reaction. He looked over at Michael, who smiled and chuckled a bit to himself at his long-time friends’ reaction and nodded as if understanding exactly what the brit was asking. He also looked around to see everyone else’s faces and saw absolutely no reaction. Gavin pulled a face before he turned back to the front slowly and stared up at the screen suddenly filled with pictures of what looked to be the victims. The girl turned back around to talk and caught Gavin’s gaze.

“Oh sorry, I’m Lindsay by the way.”

“Gavin.”

“Ooo, a British boy, that’s new…”

She said nonchalantly as she gave him a quick smile and wave before turning back to the screen, pressing a few buttons on her remote to pull up the rest of the pictures and files. Gavin smiled a bit, suddenly feeling bashful. Lindsay turned back around, facing the six agents and immediately starting.

“The latest victim, Kdin Jenzen, was found 2 days ago stabbed multiple times in the chest and left in the back of an alley inside of a black trash bag. His face was smashed into his bathroom mirror before one of the broken shards was used as the murder weapon. The first victim, a man by the name of Caleb Denecour, was also stabbed, but instead, by a huge ass kitchen knife before also being thrown out. The second victim, Daniel Gruchy, has a similar case as the other two, difference is, he wasn’t stabbed, he was knocked out and taken captive, slowly being tortured to death for two days and also bagged. A women named Barbara Dunkelman said she had seen the UnSub drop off the body of the latest victim in the alley before running off. She walked up to check out what it was and, obviously, Jenzen was dead on arrival.”

Ray squinted his eyes, looking thoughtfully between the pictures of the three victims.

“Jenzen looks like he was strangled by something made of fabric before getting got. And Gruchy was the only one captured and tortured by the UnSub, maybe they all had some sort of connection leading to this type of kill?”

Lindsay shook her head.

“No, all victims have never had contact with one another, making it harder on all of us.”

Ryan folded his hands, staring at the screen.

“All the victims are young, white males. Guessing that they are all in their mid-twenties to late twenties we could use that to figure out this guys’ motive.”

Geoff nodded a bit in response.

“The thing that scares me though is that if he continues this pattern, we may be looking for a kidnap victim soon. How long has he gone in between murders?”

Michael interjected, flipping through the files laid out in front of him.

“Well, looking at their records, the last two victims’ bodies were found within a couple weeks of each other, so we’ve got some time to dig down into this guy before he takes another person.”

“Where are we headed this time?”

Jack said, finally saying something. Lindsay looked straight at Gavin before scanning her eyes among all the others and clapping her hands together.

“Boys, get your crumpets and folded One Direction posters out because you’re all going to Oxfordshire, England.”

Gavin’s face dropped a bit.

“Are you serious?”

He exclaimed rather dramatically.

“I _literally_ just got here!”

The others laughed slightly, sensing the humor in his tone.

“Ey, I’m gonna like this guy.”

Ray said, throwing a thumb in Gavin’s direction.

“Oh you will, especially once I tell you about the time he dared me to drink a bottle of barbeque sauce for _500 fucking dollars._ ”

Gavin jumped a bit, rolling his seat backwards in embarrassment and looking at his friend.

“Michael no!!” But all Michael did was throw his head back and laugh. Geoff looked at Michael, a small smile on his face.

“I’m sure it’ll be a great story, but you’ll have to tell us on the plane there, wheels up in 10 boys.”

 

* * *

 

 

“500 god damn dollars…”

“I don’t know what I was thinking okay? God, Michael told you the entire story three buggin’ hours ago!!”

“But it was 500 dollars!!”

“I. KNOW. I’m the one who gave him the money!”

The five laughed for what seemed like the millionth time as they all went up the elevator of what would become their home for the next couple of weeks. They all had arrived in Oxfordshire about an hour ago. However, it was already almost 2 AM and they were all too tired to think straight about the case at the moment. So, all six of them headed towards the hotel they chose to stay in, by suggestion of Gavin, being the ‘native’ that his.

“Man Gavin, nice choice on the hotel stay, doesn’t actually smell like a cows’ asshole.”

Ryan said, receiving a strange look from the others as Jack muttered ‘ _fucking weirdo’_ under his breathe. Geoff shook his head a bit, as if he was trying to organize his thoughts like a game of Boggle.

“Alright then… Michael and Gavin will have a room together, Jack, you’re with me, and Ray, you’re staying with Ryan.”

Ray gave an exasperated sigh, jokingly of course.

“If that’s alright with everyone, we’ll meet back in the morning and begin going over the case.”

Everyone pretty much nodded in response and grabbed their corresponding room keys before heading to their rooms for the night.

 

* * *

 

 

Michael was happy he was staying with Gavin. No, he was _thrilled_ to be staying with Gavin. It’s been actual ages since they’ve even slept in the same room. Previous times being when they were still kids and sharing blankets didn’t classify as dating one another, not that he was thinking about it in the first place or anything. He set his bag down on the bed closest to the door, which was a habit for him, regarding his natural protective state that he always presented. Gavin followed into the room a couple of seconds later, placing his bag onto the bed near the balcony and throwing himself onto it, making a huff sound as he slowly sank into the soft, white bed.

“Ahhhh, this feels top. Never realized how tired I was until right now.”

He sat himself up, laying his back against the headrest as Michael also threw himself onto the bed, landing on his back and turning to face Gavin.

“Yeah, you’re right; laughing over your stupidity is exhausting.”

Gavin made a face at Michael, causing him to laugh slightly as he propped his head up on his elbow and stared at Gavin. Yeah, he was thrilled to be staying with him. Gavin looked back at Michael, his eyes showing that he wanted to say something, but couldn’t quite get it out. Michael noticed this at least.

“Gav, you alright?”

Gavin snapped back into reality and looked down for a second before looking back at Michael once more.

“Yeah, I’m fine…I was just…wondering what you’ve been up to. After I left I mean…”

Michael sat up at that, swinging his legs over the bed to face Gavin with his full body.

“What I’ve been up to?”

“Yeah, like what you did with yourself once I left for England.”

Michael looked at Gavin for a moment before squinting his eyes slightly and looking up as if deep in thought, pricking away at the memories inside his brain.

“Well… after you left, I graduated high school, went to a good college and studied hard to finish, my cat died…”

‘ _Gasp’_

“Eh, I got over it pretty quickly, anyways, I was contacted one day by Geoff to come work for him after he had contacted my professor looking for a newbie that he could use. I moved to Austin then after convincing my parents that I was way too old to live with them, and basically, I’ve been working at the AHPD for 5 years now. Nothing too special really.”

Gavin nodded at Michael, seeming satisfied with the answer that he was given.

“Oh… that’s not exciting.”

Michael gave him a look of annoyance.

“Well I’m not James Fucking Bond, Gavin; I literally work in a city filled with people drunk enough to accidentely get themselves arrested!”

Gavin nodded and shrugged in a corresponding manner.

“Yeah, you’ve got a point….well, goodnight then Micool~”

Gavin began to take off his shoes and turn away. Michael held up his hand, not satisfied with the conversation just yet.

“Wait, hold on! You can’t just bug people about their shitty life and then turn around and not tell yours!”

Gavin froze in that moment.

“M-my life?”

“No, the fucking Corpirate sitting behind you, OF COURSE YOURS YOU IDIOT!”

Gavin looked at Michael, _wishing_ he would catch on to the subtle look of discomfort coming from the brits green eyes. But he didn’t. No one ever analyzed things like Gavin did.

“U-uh…well…”

Gavin hesitated, not looking into the boys eyes as he spoke.

“I, um… I got to England, went to a new school, graduated a nice college, and….moved into a new house with my boyfriend…”

‘ _Boyfriend’_

Michael’s heart must have heard that word because as soon as it was uttered, it fell.

“Y-you have a boyfriend?”

Michael said, dreading even saying the words in the first place. It wasn’t that he was putting down Gavin for being bisexual; it was just that he was feeling _jealous_. Why was he though? He didn’t care about his sex life right? I mean it didn’t even concern him what guy he was around when he wasn’t because Gavin was his best friend. And the thought of someone else holding him tight at night and running his fingers through the brits soft, delicate hair and placing kisses on his forehead, his neck, _his lips_ and- his breathe hitched a bit as a small blush fell on his face. ‘ _Oh fuck’_ was all he could think as he looked at the brit straight into his eyes.

“Gav?”

Gavin quickly shook his head.

“No no, we broke up a while ago! It wasn’t….it didn’t work out so we broke up and I kicked him out. Of course, I couldn’t afford the house without him so I sold the house and moved back in with my parents. One day, I got a call out of the blue, from our man Geoff, and he offered me a job. So, here I am today.”

Michael breathed a sigh of relief, his mildly red face dissipating in the process. God was he happy about that. He looked at Gavin, noticing how the man was sort of just staring down at his feet. He reached out and gripped his right shoulder firmly, Gavin feeling the warmth of it and looking up.

“Gavin, are you sure you’re okay?”

Gavin nodded quickly.

“Yeah, I’m fine, just a bit worn out is all.”

Gavin smiled and moved away from Michaels grasp, heading for the bathroom.

“I’m gonna use the loo.”

He called out before disappearing through the door, seeming to escape from their conversation.

But Gavin was not okay, and Michael knew that too.

 

* * *

 

 

That night Gavin had a nightmare.

He felt the hands being rough with him, he heard all the shouting coming from the figure in front of him and from himself as well. He could smell the alcohol seeping into his nose as it was breathed into him. He felt his heart shatter as the vase holding his precious treasure was shattered. He screamed as he saw blood. _His blood._ Suddenly the door was slamming, he was walking somewhere, it was dark, he was confused and scared. He kept walking for miles, the street signs seeming to repeat themselves. And then the dream began again. The hands, the rough handling, the shouting, the pain. It repeated again. The alcohol, the heart break, the pain. And again, his breathing increasing now. The blood, the pain, the pain. Again.

_The pain. The pain The pain._

Gavin jolted upright in his bed, breathing frantically and sweating so much, his hair was almost drenched. He looked around himself. God where was he? He doesn’t recognize this place? It’s dark and he’s scared and he’s confused and- suddenly he remembered where he was. He was safe and far away from _him_ ever hurting him again. He breathed out in relief and calmed his breathing down, using the technique he had taught himself to use after multiple nightmares that he had had previously. He closed his eyes a sec before opening them again and running his hand through his hair. He felt the dampness of his hair and muttered a quick ‘shower’ before getting up quietly, not wanting to wake up Michael from his deep, bear like slumber. He quickly shuffled into the bathroom and locked the door behind himself. Gavin then looked into the mirror, studying his own face and noticing how aged he looked from being so worn out. The bags under his eyes, the red tint of his irises, the way his mouth sort of drooped in that moment. He looked into the sink before reaching for the hem of his own shirt and quickly pulling it up and over his own head, jostling up his massive bed head already. Gavin let his shirt fall to the ground as he stared into the mirror.

‘That’s never going to go away huh…'

He thought to himself, bringing a hand to his left shoulder adorning a scar of what looked like had once been sliced open by something _very_ painful and harmful. He looked away, not wanting to jar up the memories. ‘You have a job to do Gavin. _Don’t let this get in the way.’_  Gavin quickly stripped the rest of the way down and hopped into the shower, quickly washing himself before hopping back out and changing into a new set of clean clothes. He walked out of the bathroom turning off the light and sat on the edge of his bed quietly drying his hair. He took the towel off of his head and let it slip onto his shoulders as he fell back into the bed, staring up at the ceiling. After minutes of just lying there, lost in his thought, he felt a small breeze hit his still cold face. Gavin scrunched up his nose at the contact and looked towards what could’ve been the source. The balcony window was slightly cracked open, causing the curtain to sway slightly with the trees that stood just over it. He sat up as his eye caught something wedged in the sliding door frame. It looked like, a photo? He got up from the bed and walked over to the door. Gavin plucked the photo from it and whispered to himself what it said.

“ _See you soon.”_

 His eyes narrowed as he turned the picture over. And in that moment, he stopped breathing.

“No…” He dropped the picture and backed up slowly, making his way towards the back wall as his back hit it and he slowly slid down into a sitting position.

“No, no _NO!!”_ He screamed, tugging at the hair on his head. ‘This can’t be happening, it’s _impossible!’_

Michael had woken up at the sound of Gavin scream and he jolted into an upright position.

“Gavin what the-?”

He looked over the end of his bed and could see his friend sitting there, his knees tucked into his chest and visibly shaking .His eyes widened with concern and Michael was instantly at his side, slowly bending down to not startle Gavin too much.

“Gavin, boi, what’s going on?!”

Michael’s heart rate was picking up rapidly in worry as he was unresponsive. Suddenly, there was some very loud banging coming from the door making Gavin look up frightingly. Michael instantly shot up into a standing position, grabbing for the gun that was hidden in his dresser door and paced over to it, pressing the tip of his pistol into the back of the door.

“Are you guys alright in there?! We heard a scream!”

Geoff, Jack, Ray, and Ryan were all standing on the outside of the locked door; pj’s, guns, and all; ready to kick somebodies ass if it came to it. Michael looked through the peep hole and instantly unlocked the door, letting them in and lowering his gun. The four men sprang in, looking around frantically for signs of danger.

“What’s going on here? What happened?”

Jack said, sounding almost like a mother with the way he embedded worry into his voice.

“I don’t know, why don’t you ask Gavin…”

Michael pointed over to the poor brit, cowering in the corner and frantically walked over to him along with the others.

“Gavin, oh my god what’s wrong, are you okay?”

Geoff said as he protectively wrapped and arm around the shaking brit, almost like a father. Michael looked away a bit, feeling a bit jealous that it wasn’t him holding the brit like that. ‘I mean, what, no this is not the time brain, this is really not the fucking time…’ he scolded himself for even thinking like that with his poor friend cowering like that. Michael bent down next to Gavin and held his shoulders firmly, whispering some small encouraging ‘it’s all right’’s and ‘you’re going to be okay’’s. Gavin’s true knight in shining armor.

“Uh, guys…”

Ryan interrupted, standing up after picking up the picture that had been left on the ground. All of them stopped looking at Gavin and looked at Ryan in response.

“What is that?”

Ray questioned, standing up and standing next to Ryan, a small confused look coming upon his face as he could see the picture in his hand.

“Is that…”

“It’s my ex-boyfriend and I…”

Gavin finally said, his voice filling the room as everyone else’s went silent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the support already everyone!~ I don't think i'm going to set a very specific date to post every week because i will be busy with finals coming up and can't really focus on the story when that happens. So, it's just gonna be of a more, when i finish it i'll post it, whether it be a day apart, or (hopefully not) weeks apart. And with that being said, i'll try to post another chapter as soon as i have the time!~ If you want to ask questions or have some concerns, feel free to comment here or go to my writing blog at heylittlehunter.tumblr.com and drop an ask down! See you all later~
> 
> ~Kae


	3. Will You Let Me Risk It All For You?

Everyone looked at Gavin now.

By what he had just said, he might as well have let a pin drop in a quiet room.

“Gavin, what did you just say.”

Geoff basically whispered, breaking the silence and gripping Gavin’s’ shoulder in concern. Gavin didn't meet anyone’s gaze; he just stared down at the brown carpeted floor and refused to look up. Ryan pocketed the picture, deciding it to be a bad time to go over it as he walked over to the others with Ray. Michael sat in front of Gavin and firmly gripped both of his shoulders, almost as if telling him he was there.

“Gavin… is that-“

“I don’t want to talk about it…”

Jack knelt down as well at that moment, knowing it best not to stir the already shaken up man in front of himself.

“Gavin, I don’t know what happened, but this could help wi-“

“I said I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!!”

Gavin shouted then, shoving everyone out of the way and stepping out onto the balcony, shutting it behind himself. Everyone was quiet once more as they stared at the now shut clear glass. After minutes of just silently trying to comprehend what had just happened, Ray looked over at Michael and shot a nod towards the door. Michael nodded slowly, getting the message and stood up to follow the distraught brit.

 

* * *

 

Gavin slid the door shut roughly, shaking the entire door to match his now shaking body. He gripped the cold, chipped-black metal bar of the balcony, turning his knuckles white and stared out into the view of the night. The moon was out and shining profusely onto the streets of England, illuminating the shallow puddles of rain that still remained. Across the street and behind some thick foliage he could see a man stumble clumsily out of a bar. Gavin watched intently at the familiar way the man stumbled across the sidewalk, holding onto the wall next to himself to keep from falling over and possibly getting an injury. Gavin felt fear conjure up inside of himself, making his small shakes turn into tremors as his thoughts got the best of him. ‘ _This can’t be happening… there’s no way he could’ve known I was here, absolutely no way…_ ’ He turned his gaze to the rough floor of the balcony and clamped his eyes shut. ‘ _He’s after me…he’s going to find me and he’ll hurt me again and he’s going to-_ ‘ Gavin was brought out of his thoughts as he heard the door behind him being opened. He didn’t bother turning around, afraid to face the others. He just knew that they would want him to talk. _And he couldn’t_. “Gavin?” He heard, familiarizing it with his friend’s voice. He continued to stare down as he felt a hand hesitantly hover over his back before being pulled back.

“Hey boi, are you alright? Do you…want to talk about it or something?”

Michael was never good at comforting people and found it awkward trying to convey his concerns towards his friend. Gavin let out a shaky sigh before looking up and over his shoulder to meet eyes with him.

“I’d rather not right now okay? I’m sorry I really am, but I just can’t…”

He let go of the railing and folded his arms tightly, trying to hide his shaking. But Michael noticed. It wasn’t that cold outside, there was no breeze and Gavin was still wearing his pants. Plus, if someone was shaking as much as he was, there was something definitely wrong. Michael walked up to Gavin and reached a hand out, but the brit just flinched away and flashed his eyes between his hand and Michaels face. Michael put his hand down and let it fall by his side, the expression on his face also falling in sadness.

“Gavin, please bud, if this is about… _him_ …I can promise that whatever he did to you, he won’t ever again. Geoff has got your back, Ray has got your back, Jack, Ryan…and I do too. I’ll protect you okay? But, I can’t do that unless you help us catch the bastard…So please Gav…”

Michael lifted his hand once more, leaving it in the shape of a fist, only hoping that Gavin got the message. Their eyes met and Michael gave him a sympathetic smile.

“ _Will you let me risk it all for you_?”

They stared at each other. Michael into Gavin’s eyes and Gavin into Michaels. Gavin looked like he was ready to cry. He finally felt loved for the first time in years. For so long, he had been ridiculed, put down and outcast from everyone who crossed paths with him ever since he came back to England. He felt just as put off as he did when he first came to America. Except, Michael wasn’t there to save him. Comfort him. _Love him._ As if on an impulse he came to a realization that maybe, he would finally be _safe._ Michael looked a bit worried. Maybe what he had said had pushed Gavin over the edge and the brit was falling deeper into the grave he was digging for himself. That was the exact opposite of what he wanted, especially since he didn’t want Gavin to start pushing them away. He needed them, and they needed him. No, Michael needed him.

“Gavin please I’m sorry if I-“

But he didn’t finish as the Englishman crashed into him with his lips. Michael’s eyes widened out of shock and he didn’t kiss back right away as his thoughts began to jumble together in his mind. His feelings and emotions became a mix of confusion and want. But what sort of want? Want for Gavin? A want for it to stop? As his lips were being ravished, he began to just not think; about what he wanted or maybe didn’t want. Michael closed his eyes and pushed against Gavin, his hand coming to his lower back. His kiss became dominating as he began to push the brit to the railing. Gavin’s arms wrapped around Michael’s neck, feeling a hand pick at the hem of his shirt. That’s when alarms began going off in his head. ‘ _This isn’t right…I shouldn’t be doing this this is Michael and I can’t do this I can’t do this with him I-I-‘_ Gavin opened his eyes wildly.

“M-Michael hold on…”

And at the words spoken, he did. Michael’s hands stopped roaming and returned to himself, as if embarrassed.

“I-I’m sorry Michael…I-I don’t know what I was doing. I just…I thought I wanted it but-“

Gavin buried his face in his hands and let out an exasperated sigh.

“Gav don’t be sorry, if you want to forget about it, then we can…but you have to tell me first.”

Michael said back, giving a sort of awkward pat on his shoulder as if trying to comfort him. Gavin looked up at him.

“I don’t know what I want Michael! Okay? I just….I just need some time to think about this…”

And with that, he went back inside, leaving Michael out in the cold air of the balcony.

 

* * *

 

When Michael left, Ray and the others fell silent. None of them knew how to react with the way Gavin had stormed out. They had only known the brit for, maybe 24 hours and they already felt the need to worry for the poor guy. Whatever that picture had triggered for him, it was bad and it could possibly be the thing that halted them from continuing the investigation. Jack looked at Ryan.

“Do you have the picture?”

Ryan nodded in response and dug into his back pocket taking out the said picture. Jack grabbed it from him and studied it as everyone else gathered around him.  The small, creased picture depicted that of what looked to be a happy couple. Gavin had an arm draped around his neck which belonged to a man who seemed to be a bit paler. The face of the unknown man was scribbled out by a sharpie but black hairs could be seen peeking out at the top and sides. The man had a beer in his hand and was cheering about something wildly as Gavin was just smiling and laughing happily. If you looked into the background, you could see signs of what seemed to be a bar. But Gavin wasn’t drinking. He was having as much fun as anyone else without the influence of alcohol. With that, Ray respected him more, because he was the same way. Jack turned the picture over to read the back.

“See you soon…”

Jack said, confusion audibly embedded into his words. He looked up then, looking around at the faces of the other agents, and they were just as worried as he was. Geoff uttered a quick ‘fuck’ before stepping away from the group.

“We’re meeting tomorrow at 10. Make sure you’re all ready and in the hall.”

And with that, he loudly stormed out, almost waking up those below them with the force of his steps. Jack watched him walk away, knowing that Geoff was pissed off. Before they had been woken up by Gavin screaming, they had been talking about him. Geoff kept saying how much he liked the new kid, despite his stupid accent and seemingly dumb personality, there was something very likable behind all of it. He kept talking about this need to protect him, like a father would his own child. Both Jack and Geoff had noticed the way Gavin had reacted to the reveal of their new case location, watching the boy’s face fall and try to pick it back up for the sake of everyone else. But they noticed, they always did. And with the side of Gavin that they saw tonight, so frightened and scared, it just solidified that there was some serious background to this case; there was something very, very wrong. Jack sighed and looked between Ray and Ryan.

“I’m going to go back to Geoff and try to calm him down before he kills the UnSub and gets filed as a murderer.”

The two others nodded.

“Wait, can I have the picture though? I want to study it more to see if I can get something out of it before the meeting tomorrow.”

Ryan said. Jack nodded and handed him the picture before they let Jack go, knowing he was the only one who could ever calm Geoff down. As the red-bearded man left, they decided it best to go back to their rooms and prepare for the morning to come.

 

* * *

 

That morning had been awkward for both Michael and Gavin.

The night before after Gavin walked back inside, the others had already gone, so he just went straight into his bed, covering himself with Michael soon following. They didn’t utter a word to each other, not even a harmless goodnight. And it wasn’t that they were mad at each other, it was just _awkward._ Michael had gotten up first like usual and decided to occupy the bathroom first, seeming as it was empty. Minutes passed before he heard the creak of a bed coming from the other room, signaling to him that Gavin was finally up. But he didn’t make a single move to try and look out at him. ‘ _Why are you making this so awkward Michael? He said he just wanted to think about it, not keep it as the brick wall between us…’_  Michael put both of his hands on the hard granite bathroom counter, his palms cooling to the touch as he looked down, similar to what Gavin looked like last night on the porch.  He shook his head and finished what he was doing before stepping out of the bathroom, only to bump into Gavin. The brit made a small ‘oof’ sounds followed by a ‘sorry’ and continued into the bathroom. Michael hated this. He hated the way the two of them had to tip toe around each other, as if trying to communicate with one another would set off an atomic bomb or something. Michael roughly sighed and turned around, grabbing onto Gavin’s wrist.

“Gav wait…”

Gavin stopped and turned around slowly, as if not wanting to even talk about last night, knowing that he would have to face some sort of decision. Gavin breathed out in exasperation and turned his head down.

“Michael I know what you’re going to say and-“

“No Gavin, I’m not going to ask you about last night or whether or not you’ve made up your mind about whatever it is you feel conflicted about. But I am going to say that I don’t want us to avoid each other because of something like that. Again, we can forget about it now and just get the case going. And I know that you want to catch the bastard as much as I do….”

Gavin didn’t say anything for a moment, just continuing to stare at the mirror behind Michael. God did he look terrible after one night. In truth, Gavin didn’t sleep at all last night. He was too afraid of the nightmares to come creeping in on him. He was too afraid if _him_ to come creeping up on him. When the message said, ‘ _See you soon’,_ all Gavin could think about was _how_ soon that meant. That very moment? The next week? The next day? It scared the shit out of him just at the thought of him having to go back to the life that he and his ex had. Difference being that the ex mentioned happened to now be a serial killer.

Gavin shook away his thoughts and looked up at Michael, the fear still very visible, but he still smiled, because that’s what he’s supposed to do.

“Don’t worry Michael, it was bothering me too. And if you hadn’t of said something I might of first.”

Michael brightened up again at the statement, his eyes shining a bit more then they had been as he grinned slightly.

“Oh shut up, it probably would have come out like some fuck-all-english-defying sentence that I wouldn’t understand!”

Gavin squawked at the statement, only pretending to be as offended as he was portraying.

“As if! You are the one that usually translates my ‘British’ slurs to all the other idiots who can’t seem to understand it!”

Michael shook his head and playfully punched the side of Gavin’s arm. Gavin smiled back before slipping into the bathroom to get ready.

Everything seemed to be normal again.

 

* * *

 

Michael followed behind Gavin as the brit led the way towards Geoff and Jacks room they were supposedly going to have a meeting held. Thank god for Ray and Ryan telling them the actual time, or they would have been late and have an angry Geoff to deal with in the future. Michael walked up to the door that was painted a very unenthusiastic brown color and walked in behind Gavin, seeing as the door had been cracked open. The room was much like theirs, only inverted. It looks like Geoff and Jack had moved the two beds out of the way to sit at each corner of the room. The table, that was a fairly large size, was moved to the middle and had six chairs surrounding it for each agent to sit at. Of course, the two lads were the last to arrive and only saw two open seats for themselves, right across from Geoff at the head of the table as per usual. All four men looked up at the two entering, almost like they were expecting someone uninvited to walk in rather than themselves. Geoff shot them a slightly annoyed look, looking as if his patience was about a thread length away from running out.

“Nice for you two dickheads to show up, now you want to get started or what?”

A quiet ‘Get Rekt’ is muttered from Ray, earning tumultuous snickers from those around him, except for Geoff at the moment.

“Sorry Geoffrey!”

Gavin said, knowing how much the little nickname for the man would bother him. The man mentioned, huffed in annoyance, trying to just ignore the comment. However, Geoff was starting to like the nickname. Made him feel special. Special to Gavin that is. He let a small smile slip, going unnoticed by the others as the other two Achievement Hunter agents sat down in their corresponding spots, right next to each other. As Gavin sat down, he felt a tender hand on his shoulder. He looked over and saw Ryan looking at him with a look of concern and worry. He mouthed a small ‘ _Are you alright?’_ in which Gavin replied with a small smile and nod, soon followed by a ‘ _Thank you’_ being mouthed back. Ryan turned back to Geoff, not seeing the way that Gavin’s smile dropped as soon as he wasn’t looking. But Ray did.

“Alright so…”

Geoff began, taking a folded map of the area off his bed and placing it on the table and spreading it out with his hands before rolling up the sleeves of his jacket, showing off his endless tattoos.

“I have been looking into files of where the victims were last seen, and they came up to be here,” he drew a red circle onto the map, ”here,” another one, ”and here.” the last one.

“There seems to be no real pattern to where he picks up his victims; more of just a choice at random if you ask me.”

Jack sat up in his chair a little more, leaning over to the map as if coming to some sort of conclusion.

“There’s a park, an old pier, and a coffee shop. These all look like places that someone would take someone they know, maybe a friend or a lover as a hang out place or even a date.”

Ryan also perked up, eyeing Gavin for a split second before taking out the picture he had held onto last night.

“After I got back to my room, I looked more into the bar that could be seen in the background. And as it turns out, it is a very popular place for men of the victim’s ages to hang out. Maybe with a bit of further analysis from Lindsay, she could see if they had some sort of connection to the place.”

Ray nodded in agreement.

“I’ll text her about it and have her get back to us if she has anything.”

So, he did just that and eyed Gavin a bit as he was. Gavin turned away in that moment, not able to take any more of the conversation. He was quite uncomfortable with everyone just openly talking about his ex, as if they thought they knew him better than he did. They didn’t of course, but it still left Gavin feeling uneasy. He rubbed his left shoulder, as if the ache was reminding him that it had happened. _And could possibly happen again_.

 Gavin shook the thoughts away, knowing he needed to focus on the task at hand. He knew that without his help, there was no way they could catch him and lock him away _forever_. At that thought, Gavin felt better and decided to contribute to the surrounding conversation around him.

“Jack and Ryan are both right, I know these areas and every time I pass by them, their always crowded with people looking to have a good time.”

He pointed at the pier.

“However, that pier is shut down now. There was an accident there a couple of years ago that caused it to be shut down with everything just left there. What the victim was doing there for is beyond me, but it has to be significant in some way.”

Michael nodded, taking in all the information and processing it himself.

“We should all check out the old pier first...well actually…”

Michael looked over at Gavin, soon followed by everyone else who had gotten what he was saying as their gazes latched onto Gavin’s confused look. Gavin looked around at all of them.

“W-what is it? What’s the well actually about?”

Ryan’s eyes shifted between everyone before speaking.

“Well, we all saw the note Gavin; maybe it’s best for you _not_ to go out where the Unsub can just take you. He’ll have what he wants and maybe that will be his _final_ move.”

Gavin looked offended and appalled judging by the way his face contorted into that of anger.

“You think I can’t handle myself out there don’t you? You all do. I can take care of myself just fine and if you don’t think so, shove it. I want to put him away more than _any_ of you do and I can’t do that if you’re all going to hold my hand along the way.”

Michael tried to cut in.

”But Gav-“

“But nothing, I’m going and that’s final, I’ll see all you knobs in the car.”

Gavin retorted, pushing his chair out roughly and stood up, storming out of the door. His hard steps could be heard fading away as the hallway stretched on.

Geoff and Jack both sighed roughly. Ray looked at them before speaking what his mind wanted to say.

“I’m worried about him; this whole UnSub being his ex- boyfriend thing is really getting to him. That wouldn’t be, unless something really bad happened between the two of them.”

Geoff nodded in agreement.

“We need to keep him safe then. Unless it’s a bluff, he will be going after Gavin. How long until then is the real question here. Michael…”

Michael perked up at his name being called.

“I want you to keep an eye on him alright? He trusts you the most and I don’t think any of us could open him up as much as you do already.”

Michael stared for a bit and nodded. He was going to keep Gavin safe no matter what. And now that it was almost like a job assigned to him, it only solidified his protective feelings for Gavin. No matter what, he came first. Determination flashed in his eyes as Geoff stood up.

“Well should we get going then?”

They all nodded and stood up along with Geoff as he headed for the door.

‘Don’t worry Gavin.’

‘ _I’ll protect you.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the bit of a cliffhanger last chapter!~ I guess the little "connection" that Michael and Gavin had makes up for it? (I hope)  
> None this time as you see, but next chapter is going to be a bit....
> 
> heated
> 
> ~Kae


	4. And The Walls Kept Tumbling Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys sorry for the wait! I've just finished finals and i am busy moving into a new house so i still have like then yard sale and the packing and the actually movie and hdgfiuhjdes I hope this extra long chapter makes up for it and please enjoy!~

It was awkward when everyone got to the car.

Gavin had already taken his seat in the back where he was now sitting there almost solemnly, just quietly staring out of the window. Michael opened the passenger door and sat down with Jack taking the wheel in front. Geoff, Ryan, and Ray had to take the other car, seeming as all six of them could not fit comfortably into one. As Michael buckled himself in and Jack started the car, Gavin did not stir, only continuing to stare out of the window and finding interest in the blank wall of the parking garage. Michael lifted his hand slightly from the gray leather seats of the car, wanting to just reach out and comfort Gavin for what it was worth. But his hand stopped short, going back to its resting place in hesitation. He knew how Gavin was. When he’s pissed off, he pushes people away, thinking it better to handle his own problems alone. He was always like that, even as a kid. When something was bothering him, he tended to just keep it to himself and not tell Michael for days, months even. In this case, it was years that passed in between then. How many years it has been from Gavin breaking up with his ex to now was still a mystery to Michael and the rest of the group. ‘ _He’ll open up soon…’_ Michael thought to himself, glancing at Gavin for a moment before look forward again to see themselves now pulling out of the parking spot to follow Geoff. The ride itself was nothing special for the first few moments. Everything was quiet and even a bit awkward as the silence was only mildly filled with the soft rumble of the black SUV and city noises that resided outside of the car.

“I’m sorry…”

Michael and Jacks heads both snapped correspondingly back to face the source of the voice. Gavin was finally looking away from the window, slightly looking up and shifting his eyes between the two men in front of him. Jack faced forward again, a small yet content smile finding its way onto his lips.

“For what exactly?”

Came the reply from him. Gavin looked to the side again, almost as if being embarrassed for even trying to settle his own feelings.

“For being a mingy little minge. I understand why you guys didn’t want me to go out on the field. Really I do and it’s a bit frightening knowing that I’m practically presenting myself to him… But I was just frustrated and confused and…”

He let out a long sigh.

“And I just didn’t want to drag you all into my messed up past so I reacted wrong and I’m sorry.”

Michael was still looking at him even as Gavin looked away. His eyes fell almost pitifully before he spoke.

“Gavin, there’s no need for an apology. You were upset and we got that. So, just don’t worry about it and smile a little, alright?”

He said, flashing a smile to try and comfort him. Gavin’s eyes found their way up to Michaels before he slowly started to smile back, feeling better by the warming presence he gave off. He nodded in response and mouthed a small thank you before sitting up straighter and staring out the front of the window. Michael turned forward again after also nodding in reply. As he was turning, he caught a glimpse of Jack staring at him, eyeing him in a way. They met eyes as Jack threw a smug grin towards Michael. Michael in turn threw back a confused look, staring at him as if asking for some sort of explanation for his lingering eyes. Jack just shrugged slightly and turned his head to face the front again, not exactly hinting at what he was thinking. A bit put off by the dismissal, Michael pulled a face before staring ahead once more. Although he did smile a bit. He didn’t know why at the time. Because right after the amusement park came into view,

There was an explosion.

 

* * *

 

Geoff was the first to step out of the car as both SUVs pulled off to the side about half a mile away from the park itself. He jumped out, soon followed by the other five agents as they all simultaneously strapped on their vests and took out their guns. Ray and Ryan stepped behind the car for coverage as those who occupied the other vehicle came around as well, gathering around Geoff waiting for his plan of action. Geoff peeked over the edge of the hood of the car to see a group of men, about the same size as theirs, all armed with guns. From a distance, he could see a small green emblem adorned on the shoulder of the men, resembling that of a rubber duck. His eyes widened at the sudden realization of who they were and what they were there _for_. He quickly ducked back behind the car and looked straight at Gavin.

“You’re sitting your ass here.”

“What?!”

“You heard me!” He looked around at the others who were almost as confused with Geoff’s sudden and rash decision as Gavin was.

“What the hell do you mean by that? I’m going to go out there!”

Geoff would have stood up right then and there, considering how his height advantage would emphasis his order. Instead, his expression turned dark, staring straight into Gavin. If a stare could kill someone, they’d all be attending Gavin’s funeral the next week.

“Those dicks who just blew up the whole god damn amusement park are a little group called mercenaries. And do you know what mercenaries do? They hunt people. And who do you think they’re after? You. So you are gonna take your snob-headed attitude and stay here away from them. Got it?”

Gavin opened his mouth to protest, but immediately shut it, knowing that any argument against him would be futile. He lowered his eyes to the floor before speaking up.

“Fine…”

Geoff nodded at his reply before whipping out his plan.

“Ryan, you’re gonna tag behind me as I try to talk to these guys. We aren’t their targets so they won’t be trying to kill any unnecessary people _right_ away. If our little conference goes to shit, back me up. Michael and Jack, you’re going to go around the back way. To my right is a path that leads up to a building that will give you a good down look on the place. Go up the stairs and give a head count. After, find a way to get around behind the bastards while I talk to them and watch for any tricks that they might pull. Ray, you’re going to stay here with Gavin.”

Michael looked up at Geoff in that moment as his eyes scrunched in confusion. Didn’t Geoff _just_ ask Michael to keep an eye on him? What was different now? Geoff only gave a firm nod, almost as if saying ‘ _Trust me._ ’ And Michael did.

“So we gonna go or not?”

Ryan butted in, breaking the second of silence. Geoff turned around and looked over the hood again.

“On three…one…two...”

“Wait on three or after three?”

“Three!”

Geoff almost shouted, breaking into a small jog and sheathing his gun. Everyone darted off to their respective locations as Gavin and Ray stayed behind, still hidden by the protection of the large SUV. Gavin turned around and laid his back against the car, letting out a large sigh as he set his pistol next to him and running his hands down his face.

“Bugger all…” Ray sat next to him, keeping his gun in hand.

“Same buddy, same.”

 

* * *

 

All six of them were connected by their ear pieces still as they ran off to their given locations. Michael trailed behind Jack who led the way, obviously knowing where Geoff had wanted them to go. They passed by walls of policemen, thankfully keeping the civilians away from the park itself and still pushing them back. The path they followed led them to a back alley, only having a small trashcan, a couple of stray cats, and the stairs previously mentioned. The two of them scrambled up the stairs and went through a dull gray door into an empty room. The room seemed to be abandoned; seeing as the paint on the walls were chipping and the inner workings of the wall could be seen. All of that was ignored though as both of the agents attention came to the windows, or rather, what _would_ have been the windows. The only two windows that could be of use to them were now boarded up with no access to the outside.

“Shit!”

Michael shouted. Jack ignored the man and looked toward the door to his left, opening it.

“Look, roof access!”

Jack said before he went up the stairs, soon followed by Michael who was still grumbling over Geoff’s misconception. Geoff’s voice filled their heads as they made it up to the roof.

“You guys there yet? I’m not going in till I get a count.”

Michael ducked behind the short wall of the roof to look out as Jack stood by the door to make sure no one else came up.

“Yeah, had a small road block but its fine. We’ll get back to you on that.”

“Alright well, hurry it up. They’re not gonna be standing there forever.”

Jack nodded out of habit, realizing Geoff couldn’t see him before walking over and bending down next to Michael.

“You got a number yet?”

Michael’s eyes were squinted behind his glasses, scanning the area before looking back up at Jack and pressing at his earpiece to tell Geoff.

“Looks like there’s only two out by you, Geoff. There are two more hanging in the back near the Ferris wheel where it seems the explosion had gone off. Judging by the way they are frantically moving about, it was probably unintentional.”

“I could pick them off with my sniper if you want me to?”

Ray said through the earpiece.

“You brought a bloody sniper rifle?”

Gavin squawked, probably looking at Ray in disbelief.

“Uh duh?”

Michael could hear the shuffling of feet through gravel, as Ray made his way to the back of the car to pop the trunk to his convenience and pull out the long barreled gun.

“You said the Ferris wheel, right Michael?”

“Yeah.”

Not even a minute after replying, Michael and Jack could see the two bodies crumple to the ground, one right after the other. They both had been working with Ray for years, seeing him drop guys point blank like it was no problem. But every time his quick hands and flawless aiming were put on show, the agents were amazed, and maybe even scared by his talents.

“That was top Ray!”

“Yeah, yeah I know.”

Michael could hear Gavin laugh softly as a slight pressure was felt deep in his chest. ‘ _What the hell are you doing Michael? You can’t be jealous, it’s not like you’re dating Gavin right? I mean all you did was kiss and that claimed no right to him and oh god stop thinking already!’_ Michael physically shook his head to get rid of the thoughts, earning a confused look from Jack. Michael just shrugged it off before pointing to the other set of stairs on the side of the roof, leading to the bottom.

“We should head to our location.”

Jack nodded and followed behind Michael as he led the way.

Ryan’s voice interjected.

“Geoff, you should go now, their down two men.”

“Right.”

Came Geoff’s reply as he slowly walked into view of the two mercenaries. His shoes tapped against the gray concrete, making the two men with the green emblems whip around and aim their gun. As Ryan’s hand went to his gun, Geoff’s went up.

“Hey whoa, calm down! I’m just here to chat.”

Geoff said slowly, stopping in his tracks to not alert them too much. But the guns did not fall, their fingers way too close to the trigger to be comfortable. Geoff slowly let his hands fall to his side, refusing to break eye contact as to not let his plan go to shit.

“Chat about what?”

He said in his thick Irish accent with his spiked up green hair and massive amounts of piercings. He had on what seemed to be punk like clothing, with a ripped jean jacket and jeans to go with it. His friend next to him was dressed the same. Difference being that his hair was a sharp red and pulled back into a low ponytail, adorned with an undercut. Geoff almost cringed at their poor fashion choice, but decided it best not to mention, considering the situation.

“You have it out for a friend of mine…don’t you?”

He said, his face struggling to not darken and ruin the whole thing. The red head’s eyes squinted in confusion before replying.

“You know the Free kid?”

He scoffed a bit.

“We’ve been…. _waiting_ for his arrival. We’re not here to kill him. Just going to… _lead_ him in the right direction.“

Being said, he let his gun down, still holding onto it as it rested on his abdomen. The green haired one did the same, probably being a lower rank then red head. Geoff noted this and decided that this would be his best chance to throw in his wild card.

“I can give him to you; I know ex-actly where he is.”

A chorus of ‘ _What the hell are you doing?’s_  and ‘ _Are you fucking crazy?’s_ followed after his proposal. Ryan was ready to stand up and let his bullets fly before Geoff secretly held up his hand, telling him to stop where he was. The two mercenaries exchanged contemplative looks, probably having some sort of mental conversation of whether they should pop one into Geoff right now or not. Soon after, they dropped their guns completely to let it hang by the strap wrapped around them. Red head folded his arms and shifted his weight onto one hip, his face not looking away from Geoff for one second.

“What’s the catch?”

Geoff smirked a little bit. ‘ _Got ‘em.’_

“All you looney tunes have to do is tell me who sent you guys and why. That’s all.”

He emphasized his statement with a cocky smirk pulling at the edges of his lips as he shifted his body language to match that of the punk in front of him.

The green headed one seemed to think otherwise, seeing as he reached for his gun, but was stopped short by a leather gloved hand coming up to halt him.

“Why? Why are you helping us if he’s such a good friend of yours?”

Geoff stared slightly and laughed to himself.

“You’re asking why? For one, he’s a bumbling idiot who I’d rather get off of my hands, cleanly. And two, I heard that helping out mister big shot can get me some much needed extra cash. Kind of a win-win situation here am I right?”

Geoff heard a strong shout come from the earpiece, matching the voice to Michaels. He chose to ignore it as he reached up to his ear to turn it off, playing it off as an itch behind his ear.

“Geoffrey?”

“Geoff!”

“Did he just turn off his earpiece?”

“That piece of-I’m gonna fucking kill him.”

“Guys calm down.”

Jack said, looking at Michael seeming as he was the only one near him.

“He knows what he’s doing, trust me. Trust him.”

Michael stared at Jack, anger filling his eyes with the increasing emotion that he didn’t dare let out in case they would be heard.

“What the _fuck_ does that mean, huh Jack? Oh yeah let’s just hand over Gavin like he’s some waste of space! Doesn’t matter to me or any of us at all! As long as it saves his ass its totally fine am I right?”

Jack’s face and voice changed into stern anger.

“He doesn’t think of him, or any of us, in that way! He cares Michael and I know firsthand! There is no way that he is going to let someone on his team slip from his grasps _again!”_

“Well he better prove it soon! Because if he so much as takes one leading step towards Gavin, he’ll have to crawl the rest of the way there on broken legs!”

“Did you just-“

“Would you two shut the HELL up! You act like I can’t hear you!”

Gavin almost yelled, startling the man sitting next to him.

“I trust him… and you should too Michael…you’ve worked with him longer than I have.”

A groan could be heard over the earpiece for all five of them to hear.

“Alright I will, but Gavin-“

“Don’t but Gavin me… I told you I can handle myself. Now pay attention to Geoff, I think he’s on to something.”

They all hesitantly looked back over at Geoff, only to be met with a weird expression that resembled confusion, and a bit of hidden anger.

“Ryan, tell us what he’s saying.”

“On it.”

He replied as they all listened in on the seemingly shocking conversation.

Geoff stared at the two men, a thread length away from pulling out his gun now and shooting them down. ‘ _What did they just say? The UnSub wants to “show-off” Gavin?’_ Geoff quickly fixed his fading strong demeanor to look calmer than he felt.

 _“_ Care to elaborate on what you mean by ‘show off’?”

The red head knew he had already said too much, choosing to completely put off the question itself.

“Show me where he is.”

“Not till you answer my question.”

“Show me, you don’t have much time.”

“I don’t have time? Wha-“

“ _GEOFF!! BEHIND YOU!!”_

Geoff turned around quickly. But not quickly enough as a shot rang off and pain suddenly blossomed throughout his shoulder.

 

* * *

 

Ray had been the first one to spot the hooded man walking up behind Geoff with an assault rifle in hand. His eyes widened as his hand reached out to push Gavin’s head down as he looked over the hood of the car and shouted.

“GEOFF!! BEHIND YOU!!”

But he was a little too late as a shot was heard and Geoff toppled backwards, hitting the ground hard with his hand coming to his shoulder.

“Shit!”

He exclaimed, bringing the scope of his sniper to his eye in order to get a better look. Ryan had already shot the new guy in the leg as Michael and Jack circled around the building they were hiding behind to get the Christmas colored duo as well. They both quickly crumpled to the ground, one holding their shoulder and the other his thigh as their guns clattered against the floor and their backs. Ray swooped the nose of his gun from side to side, just to make sure that this time there was actually no one to be seen.

“Alright Gavin, we’re good to go.”

But as the Hispanic man was turning around, Gavin had already broken into a hard sprint towards Geoff and the others who were now gathering in a circle. He gave a very over exaggerated eye roll as he tucked the sniper close to his chest and ran after Gavin to join the others. When he got there, Geoff was already sitting up with Jack applying hard pressure to the wound. Ryan was phoning for an ambulance to come immediately while Michael started to take his shirt off, handing it to Jack for him to use as a temporary bandage. From the looks of it, the bullet was lodged deep in his shoulder. Judging by the distance and power of the gun that was used, Geoff should be feeling pain ten times worse than what a regular pistol would do to someone. And Geoff was a really resilient guy. Ray has seen him get shot cleanly in the leg, but walk on it the next couple of days after like it had never happened. But with the way he was grimacing now, not making some stupid dick joke to accommodate with the pain meant that he was feeling _real_ pain.

“Damn it Geoff…”

Ryan said, pocketing his phone and shaking his head. Geoff, who had previously been squeezing his eyes shut opened them half lidded as his breathe came out in long staggered breathes.

“Shut up Ryan…I’ll be fine…just get me…to that…damn hospital already…shit…”

Jack felt Geoff go limp.

“Geoff?!”

“Holy shit no…”

Everyone panicked as Jack leaned down next to his face, feeling for a pulse or some sign of life. To everyone’s relief, his chest could be seen rising and falling softly in calm breathes. A sigh escaped their mouths from the knowledge that Geoff was still there - and would thankfully remain with them for a very long time. Jack sat back up and looked up at the others.

“He’s just passed out…whether it be from shock or pain, I don’t know…”

Michael let out a gruff sigh as he turned around and ran his hands down his face, obviously overwhelmed.

“Trust me my ass. Getting yourself shot and almost bleeding to death isn’t worth information we can find in due time…”

He whispered to himself, not reaching the others ears. Everyone turned their heads suddenly as a distant siren could be heard. Not even seconds later, blue and red flashing lights came racing down the street, pushing past parked cars and startled civilians as it came to a rough stop. People in blue shirts burst out of the back of the ambulance bringing with them the usual stretcher that is seen on television. They all quickly jogged over to the AH crew and tenderly picked up Geoff’s body, his head lolling to the side as he was placed onto the stretcher. Ryan was about to go into the ambulance with them before he felt a hand on his chest holding him back. He turned quickly to come face to face with Gavin, who would only stare forward, almost refusing to look anywhere but the place that Geoff was being taken.

“I’ll go with him…see you guys back at the hotel later…”

Before anyone could respond or even protest, the brit disappeared into the flashing vehicle as its doors closed and rushed off to the nearest hospital. The remaining four still stood there, shell shocked by the whole situation. They all came to a conclusion that this whole ordeal – with Gavin’s ex-boyfriend who has it out for him still – is getting into something much deeper than they would like to know.

 

* * *

 

Gavin stayed with Geoff all the way to the hospital.

He couldn’t help but feel responsible for everything that had happened within the last hour or so. Because of his stupid problems with his stupid ex and his stupid stupidity of stupid, Geoff is laying in front of him, practically bleeding to death from the gun wound he was now suffering from. And even though the sight of him lying there, helpless and almost peaceful made him feel a tinge of pain and regret; there was an instance of distrust that ushered through his chest. ‘ _Did he really mean what he said back there? Was he actually going to throw me under the bus to save himself?’_ Gavin immediately regretted the thought, thinking it selfish of himself for even thinking that of someone who literally just took a bullet for his sake. All he was trying to do was squeeze out any information he could get to help his case, no, _their_ case. If it weren’t for the dire situation he was facing right now, he would have cracked a smile. Something about him saying _their_ made him feel at home and even some weird sort of nostalgia. Like those moments when you find something that used to be so important to you years ago, and that feeling just rushes into you all over again, as if it were the first time you were experiencing it. God, he could really get used to this.

He was startled out of his thoughts as the ambulance came to a stop, the door flinging open in haste as the stretcher Geoff was lying on was being rolled out. Gavin tried to keep up with the medics pushing him inside, but he began to fall behind as doctors and nurses replaced the medics. He watched Geoff turn the corner before he was gone, leaving Gavin to stand in the middle of the hallway. He let out a deep breathe, not even realizing previously that he had been holding it in the first place. For the next couple of hours, Gavin would be here waiting – and waiting – and waiting – and waiting.

 

* * *

 

3 hours had passed before he had heard anything about Geoff.

The kind, petite nurse came out of the surgery room to inform Gavin that Geoff was going to be just fine and would need a couple of days to rehabilitate his shoulder before he could use it to its full extent. Apparently, the bullet just barely hit the shoulder blade, about a centimeter away from shattering it completely. If that had happened, Geoff would have become an early retired cop right there on the spot. And Gavin wouldn’t be able to bare the guilt. He went back to the waiting room and sat down the same spot that he had been for his full wait, unlocking his phone in order to tell the guys what happened and that he would be staying over with Geoff until he could be discharged. But all of that was interrupted by a soft patter of feet and small grumbling coming from his right and down the long hallway. When he looked up, his jaw almost fell off its hinges from opening up so wide from the shock. Here comes Geoff, only in his gown mind you, with all of his clothes tucked under his arm as he waddled across the tiled floor looking more annoyed than he has been in the last 24 hours. Gavin instantly stood up, taking long strides to the man who resembled an escaped prisoner, his tattoos helping with the look quite a bit.

“Geoff?! What do you think you’re doing? You need to go back to you room!”

Gavin said, emphasizing his words with a hand on Geoff’s chest as it tried to meekly push the man back. A hand wrapped around Gavin’s wrist, yanking it down to pull their faces closer together. Gavin, taking this as some sort of move being made, flushed increasingly, trying to maneuver his way away from the others lips. But this was just fine, because Geoff had intended to only speak in his ear anyway, which came as a huge relief to Gavin. Why? He had no clue. Not like he belonged to anyone else at the time.  For a brief second his mind flashed ‘ _Michael.’_ But as said, it was instantaneous, making him utterly forget it completely. Geoff’s voice traveled in a low, gruff sound.

“Get. Me. The fuck. Out. _Now._ ”

Gavin pulled back to look into his eyes for a brief second, realizing the seriousness in his tone was supposed to represent a sort of eagerness. Gavin, not missing a beat, wrapped his arm around Geoff’s waist, and Geoff’s arm around his neck, earning a few curious stares as they hobbled out the front of the hospital. Since Gavin couldn’t drive – which Geoff definitely called him out for – they were forced to walk however far away the hotel was, seeming as they couldn’t get a taxi with Geoff mooning everyone in a mile radius of themselves. The silence in between was a bit awkward as they walked down the streets of Oxfordshire, not really having much to talk about. They didn’t have much in common besides their shared occupation and interest in video games; plus the fact that Geoff is on a higher level of ‘adult’ so to speak making it hard to have any real conversation. However, that was when Gavin remembered one specific topic.

“Geoffrey.”

“Hm?”

“Can I ask you something?’

Geoff let out a pained sigh.

“Well, seeing as we’ve got some time to kill, fuck it, why not.”

Gavin slowed their pace a little, knowing that his topic of choice could take a while to answer, if he did choose to.

“After you turned off your ear piece, Jack mentioned something happening before this that he didn’t want you to have to experience again. And out of curiosity, I just want to know what happened?”

Geoff tensed up, coming to a full stop about three blocks away from their destination. His face slacked as a sudden rush of angst rushed through his whole body, the memories hitting him with the force of an oncoming train. There was no way he could talk about it right now. He was supposed to be the strong one. Everyone looked up to him for his natural abilities that resembled a leader; him being a brave, courageous man shining the brightest of his abilities. He almost wasn’t allowed to show fear.

“That’s none of your concern right now Gavin.”

“But Geoff, I’m just curious!”

“And you will continue to be because this is a different story for a different time. What’s more important is that we keep you safe. If your ex goes through with what he said he planned to do, I don’t know what could happen to you. And those things mean bad business. _Really bad.”_

Gavin didn’t probe at the questions anymore, sending relief throughout Geoff’s body and settling his rising anxiety. As if right on cue, the hotel came into view and the two of them walked to it.

“Okay but, I have _one_ more question.”

“What is it now?!”

“…”

“…”

“Do you plan to put on pants anytime soon?”

“Not till after I take a huge shit! Been savin’ it just for you Gavin!”

Gavin wretched at the thought, almost doubling over in a gagging fit. Thank god Michael told him about his gag reflex. He was going to have so much fun with this in the future.

 

* * *

 

After the ambulance had left, the rest of them arrested the three men and brought them over to the nearest department to be dealt with, going straight back to the hotel after. They all were as worried for Geoff as the person sitting next to them, walking solemnly into his and Jacks room where they had been sitting only that morning. By now, it was about dusk, the sun just barely starting to go down over the top of the horizon casting a deep shadow of each of them in the room. Ryan was the first to speak up and break the silence.

“You think he’s going to be all right?”

He said, sitting on the edge of one of the cornered beds and resting his elbows on his knees almost menacingly. Jack stood across from him, his back leaned against the wall as Michael and Ray took up the chairs to his left.

“He’ll be fine…It’s Geoff we’re talking about man. He could get thrown off the top of the building and still survive without whining. And plus, Gavin’s there, he’ll take good care of him…”

The mention of Gavin made everyone quiet. Ryan looked over at Michael who was sporting a thoughtful, yet concerned look. Michael looked up to meet his eyes before saying what was on his mind.

“Speaking of Gav, there’s something really bad behind all of this. Something that Gavin really isn’t telling us.”

The other three nodded in agreement, all confirming their shared suspicions.

“I got a response from Lindsay a while ago.”

Ray said, unlocking his phone to open the email. “The victims of this case all went to the same college. And not only that, it’s the same college that Gavin and his ex went to. Apparently this noobs name is Alex Portman and he was a transfer there from Ireland about 5 years ago, give or take a few months. He has a history of DUI’s and being caught with drugs; which is one of the reasons his parents shipped him out here to get him out of their lives. Obviously, this is probably not what they intended to happen. Here’s a picture of him.”

Ray presented his phone to the rest of the room, the screen only being filled with the face of the psycho himself. His skin was rather pale like the previous picture had shown from the skin that could be seen. His eyes were a deep blue and were accompanied by strikingly dark black hair, it obviously not being his original hair color. His jaw line was firmly set and even had a bit of stubble amongst it. If it weren’t for the serial killer part, they could see why Gavin would choose to date this man. He was quite appealing to the eye. But that didn’t matter to Michael. He had been the one to hurt Gavin _and_ threaten taking him away from him. Now that he knew what UnSub looked like, he couldn’t wait to see how many different ways he could cave his head in. Michael perked up a bit, a bit startled himself at where his mind just went.

“Well now we can match a name to a face, what’s stopping us from going after him right now?”

Jack looked over at him before answering.

“That’s too risky. Who knows what he’ll do if we just go straight to him. If we do that, we might as well have handed over Gavin when the mercenaries asked for him in the first place. Right now, it’s best to beat around the bush a little, find ways to strike his most vulnerable points to ensure that Gavin doesn’t get involved and he doesn’t get bored and decide to find another victim.”

This annoyed Michael; all he wanted to do was find him ASAP and turn him in himself. After he took care of his ‘feelings’ toward the man of course, which was the equivalent of fists connecting with skin. Multiple times. He felt a hand on his shoulder that squeezed in comfort. He looked over only to make eye contact with Ray, feeling a sudden warmth inside of himself knowing that everyone was in this with him. He had a feeling of being at home. He was brought back to reality as there was loud knock on the door. Ryan quickly stood up, his pistol in hand as he walked over to the door and looked through the peep hole before putting his gun down. When the door was opened, a sluggish Geoff was leaning heavily against an exhausted Gavin.

 

* * *

 

“Geoff what the hell are you doing here?” Ryan said closing the door behind him.

“People have really got to stop saying shit like that…”

He uttered as Gavin helped him into the bathroom. Moments later he came out dressed properly and looking dapper as ever in his usual suit of choice. Only difference in his outfit was that he had a constricting metal brace running alongside his arm and shoulder, giving that one arm a weird hunched look. Jack stalked over to him.

“You should be in the hospital right now! You can’t just walk out all of a sudden! You may be a section chief back in Texas, but here people don’t know you as that and won’t just-“

“Jack please we have more important things. Plus I’ve been through worse; I’ll be fine so don’t worry.”

Jack could’ve easily fought back, going on and on about how stupid he was and how he’s way too reckless all the time. But in reality, he was just glad that he was alright. He breathed out through his nose before giving a small apologetic smile and returning to his position on the wall. Geoff walked over and sat next to Ryan, ushering for Gavin to join the group who stood in between Jack and Michael. Geoff didn’t even hesitate before he started talking.

“Gavin, you’re going to have to tell us what happened.”

“What do you-“

“You know what I mean don’t play dumb with me!”

Geoff said sternly, only a hint of an apology written in it. Gavin froze up. He could feel everyone’s eyes on him, stabbing at the walls that he had kept up for so long. They were begging for entrance into Gavin’s life, but he didn’t know if he was ready to accept that yet. His face began to get clammy as his throat dried up. It seemed that even if he did want to tell them, his body was refusing to let him. He jumped slightly, a bit startled when someone grabbed his hand and gave it a firm squeeze. Michael was right there next to him. And so was Jack, and Ray, and Ryan, and Geoff. There were all here and still working for his sake. He’d barely known them for two days, and yet it feels like two years in this short time period. They trusted him with his life, so why couldn’t he trust them? Gavin remembered back to when Ryan checked up on him the next morning after his breakdown; when Ray pushed his head down where safety lay; when Jack acknowledged his presence in the car earlier that day and seemed to care about him; when Geoff was shot prodding at information to catch someone that was out to hurt him; _when he and Michael kissed out on the balcony._ He decided then and there, that these were the people he would let into his little secluded world. He wished that they would want him to stay in their lives as much as he wanted them to. _Especially his boi_.

“Alright then...”

“I’ll tell you.”


	5. Long Time No See

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for being gone so long!~ I've been terribly busy with moving into my new house and cleaning the old one and homework and just gdfhsgfajsdhf  
> Anyway, here's the new chapter, and i'm sorry that it's a bit shorter! I just had to end it where it does!  
> (sorry in advance)

“Alright then…”

“I’ll tell you.”

Everyone watched Gavin as he tried to find the words that wouldn’t come out of his mouth. They all could see how nervous he looked, despite the fact he just said he was okay with telling them the secret he wouldn’t dare to share before. Michael gave Gavin’s hand another firm squeeze, letting him know that it was okay and that he was there for him to usher him on.

“Gavin?”

“I-I…”

And then suddenly Ray’s phone began to ring, the noise filling the once silent stricken room. He rolled his eyes immensely and looked at who could have possibly been calling him at this intimate moment that the six of them were having.

“Wow Lindsay way to kill the moment…” Ray muttered to himself before answering.

“Hello?”

“….”

“Yeah hold on, I’ll put you on speaker…”

Gavin had shrunk back a little bit when the phone had rung. He was a bit shocked and almost relieved that he didn’t have to open himself up to them just yet. He thought he was ready until the moment came to actually talk about it. It was different with Michael, the way his hand tightened around Gavins as a sign of protection; but that was Michael. _His Michael._ He slipped his hand out of the vice like grip and brought it up to grasp his opposite elbow, eyeing Ray as he pressed a button on his smartphone. Lindsay’s voice suddenly burst from the small speakers.

“There’s been a sighting of the UnSub.”

Everything went silent before Geoff whipped right into action.

“Stupid fucker; they always slip up somehow. Where to Tuggey?”

“And old church about thirty minutes out, I’ll text you the address when you get going. You’ll have to hurry though, he won’t be there for long.”

Geoff nodded and looked up at the others.

“Ray, Michael, Ryan, and Jack. You’re all gonna go check out the church. Make it quick and check back with me on what’s up, alright? Gavin, you’re staying here with me. As much as I’d like to go, I’m in no condition to fight if Alex decides to unleash bullet hell and I don’t know how stable you’ll be if he is there. We can’t risk it.”

Gavin could feel eyes flash to him before they turned back to Geoff and nodded. Gavin straightened, letting go of his elbow and opened his mouth as if he were to say something. He closed it immediately, knowing that any form of argument would be shut down by Geoff and the others. Honestly, he hated feeling this controlled. He knew they meant well and just wanted to protect him, but he was _done_ being the one that had to rely on those around him. He was done having to need protection. He was done being _weak_.

But the others were right, he doesn’t know what he’ll do once he finally sees Alex after all these years - it could easily turn an easy situation into a very dangerous one. He decided it be best that he just go with Geoff’s gut; staying behind with him would keep himself and the others safer than they would be with all six of them going. Gavin nodded soon after in response, not breaking eye contact with Geoff until he did.

“Wheels up boys."

 

* * *

 

Ray, Michael, Jack, and Ryan all headed down to the SUV where it had been parked not even a day ago, quickly settling inside of it in order to not waste any precious time that Alex may be using to try and make a clean getaway. A long silence hung over them as soon as they entered the car that stayed there for a good thirty minutes, seemingly keeping the agents mouths shut. It wasn’t because it was awkward; it was that they all had the same thought pricking at the inner workings of their minds and they didn’t know how to address it. Ryan let out a cough, jostling the silence and bringing everyone back to the world of the living.

“Am I the only one really worried about Gavin?” He said finally, looking amongst the others.

Jack gave him a long side look before sighing and facing forward once more.

“No, you aren’t…we all are.”

 Ray nodded and turned his attention to Michael; the obvious concern for the brit written all over his face. Michael’s stare darted into the back seat, looking as if he were trying to gather his thoughts as he furiously bounced his leg like he always did when he was deep in thought. Ray looked at Ryan who shook his head, knowing it be best not to bother him if it meant he was getting somewhere. Ray leaned forward and let his elbows rest on his knees.

“Gavin doesn’t want to talk about it, I can tell.”

 “We all can. It’s not hard for people with a profiling background to get that.” Jack pointed out casting his eyes over to him.

“There’s something stopping him from talking about what happened. And it might not just be from trauma. Possibly a previous threat that Alex implanted in his brain to keep him quiet about it; some sort of mental block.” Ryan added in, turning himself so that he could face the other two men who were listening

Ray cast his eyes down for a bit, squinting his eyes as if thinking long and hard about something.

“Well,” he said looking up, “if something did happen, wouldn’t it appear somewhere in files or even on the news? Something that is as bad as Gavin is making out to be has to appear somewhere that we can look at it.”

“Unless he somehow covered up for it…” Jack said, staring straight ahead with a tight expression on his face.

“Cover up? Gavin wouldn’t do that…would he?” Ryan said, exchanging a look with Ray.

Jack brought one of his hands up to his face and ran them down it, letting out a soft grunt. “I honestly don’t know…that’s something for him to tell us in the future.”

“Something’s off…” Michael finally said after not speaking a word to any of them, making the others jump a bit from the sudden interlude.

“Michael-“

“We have to go back now.”

Ray looked at him baffled. “Where the hell is this coming from?!”

“I _told_ you! There is something off with this whole thing!”

“Yeah we got that. Something’s off with Gavin. “

“No I mean with this so-called sighting of Alex.”

“What do you mean by that? If somebody saw him, somebody saw him.”

Michael shook his head in disagreement.

“Sure, maybe they did somehow. But how the fuck was there a sighting if _we’re_ the only ones who know what he looks like?”

Silence fell again but only for a moment as realization hit them.

Jack muttered a small ‘ _shit’_ as he roughly turned the wheel, making the other three fly into the door and into each other.

“A fucking decoy?! This is bad. This is really, _really_ bad.”

“God damn it…”Ryan said, already calling Geoff, having the utter need to warn him.

“He’s not picking up!”

“Damn it all!” Jack shouted pounding his foot onto the pedal in desperation, only wanting to get back to the hotel before Alex could do what they were all thinking he was going to do.

_Make his final move._

 

* * *

 

Gavin and Geoff watched as the others left the room, the sound of all their feet scampering away being the only thing the both of them hear for a while. Gavin stood there awkwardly, looking at the door as he felt a pair of eyes fall on him. He looked over at Geoff, making eye contact for a second before calmly shifting his eyes to a rather interesting spot on the barren wall. Geoff held his stern stare, not letting it fall away until Gavin made a move towards him. He scoot over slightly as Gavin sat down next to him, hesitantly bringing his hand up to the shoulder Geoff had injured.

“You’re really dumb you know.”

“Oh really?”

“Yes really.” Gavin retorted, not pulling his eyes away from Geoff’s shoulder, his face scrunching up in a sort of concerned manner. Geoff noticed this, watching the way the brit eyed his injury as If he were the one that had shot him.

“It’s not your fault.”

“I know, but it sure as hell felt like it…”

A silence fell between the two of them, only lasting a few moments before Gavin spoke.

“Geoffrey…why were you so desperate to know what happened?” He said, slowly turning his gaze up to look at Geoff. Geoff let out a huffed sigh as he faced forward for a second, gathering his thoughts and looked back at Gavin.

“I know what it’s like you know…holding something in for so long that it feels wrong to share it with someone else.” Gavin’s face shifted a bit in confusion, but held Geoff’s gaze as if ushering him to keep talking. Geoff took a deep breath and faced forward, slouching a bit in the process.

“It was raining that day; I remember that because I kept complaining about getting my new shows getting wet. He laughed at me and called me an idiot for it, even though I knew that he probably meant it… We were off on a case about…god I don’t remember, but it was gruesome and I think its better that I don’t remember. The both of us were out to look over a possible place that one of the victims was found and we had to walk there with our dumb ass umbrellas for god knows what reason.” Geoff chuckled a bit, the shakiness in his voice becoming apparent as if he were holding back all of his emotions that were just begging to be poured out. He paused for a moment and looked down, continuing. “We walked up to the place, a huge abandoned warehouse that just reeked of fish smell. I’m pretty sure we were somewhere by the docks. He had mentioned fishing with me once it was all over somewhere within the lines of our conversation.” The shakiness in his face increased a bit, fighting harder. “He had insisted on going on ahead and I let him. I let him go without even knowing that that would be the _last_ time I ever saw him alive.”

“Oh god Geoff…”

“I was the one that finished the case for him. I was the one that had to investigate his body. I was the one who had to tell his family that they lost a son that day a-and…” Geoff’s voice cracked as he let a single tear fall from his eye, showing his emotions for the most that Gavin has ever seen. Gavin wrapped an arm around him, comforting him the best way that he physically knew how.

“Who else knows?”

“Just you and Jack. I can’t tell the others. I’m supposed to be their leader. What kind of leader am I if I show my weakness…?” Geoff responded, quickly wiping away his tears with his good hand.

Gavin let go of Geoff and stared at him for a moment.

“What makes me any different then? Why tell me and not the others when I’ve only known you for two days?”

Geoff looked back up at Gavin, straightening his posture once more as if resuming his high ranking. “We’re pretty similar in more ways than you think Gavin. I see myself being reflected in you and the way you are so desperately trying to handle things by yourself is going to destroy you. Telling you this has lifted a weight off my shoulders that I didn’t even realize I had and I guess I’m just saying that talking to someone about it is better than trying to hold it in. I’m sorry about trying to rush you before, but I couldn’t stand the look you gave off…You don’t have to talk about it right now, but eventually, okay?”

Gavin stared in awe at Geoff, he sort of started looking up to the tattooed man the moment he walked into his small office back in America with the way he seemed to hold himself. But seeing him open himself up like that, showed just how human he is. How much he had to hold inside of himself to appear as sustainable as he seemed. But Gavin saw right through him; he was always analytical of people like that.

“Okay…” Gavin said, continuing to look at Geoff before casting his eyes down, letting a smile pull past his lips. Geoff gave him an odd look.

“Where’s that smile coming from? I just gave you the most beautifully sad back story that will ever grace your eardrums and all you do is smile?” He said, making Gavin turn back to him who let out a half exaggerated laugh.

“Nah, don’t worry about it…”

A small, companionable silence fell between them before Gavin spoke up, his voice cutting through the silence.

“Thank you…Geoffrey, really. I needed that.” He said, giving Geoff a small smile. Geoff smiled back and bumped into him lightly.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. I should be thanking you for listening to an old gent like me.”

“Yeah you’re right, I should get paid more.”

Geoff let out a hysterical laugh before shoving Gavin off the bed, issuing a loud thump and some incoherent blubbering following it. Gavin sat up quickly and was preparing to retort against Geoff’s sudden playful mood when their came a small knock at the door, almost inaudible.

“Was that a knock?” Gavin said already heading for the door.

“Probably the management telling us to shut the fuck up.”

Gavin laughed and gave an over exaggerated eye roll before walking over to the door and peering through the peep hole. He didn’t really see anything threatening, for the only thing visible was a metal tray that was covered and the top of a black haired head that was turned down. Gavin unlocked the deadbolt and opened the door.

“Hello-“

Gavin stopped mid-sentence, his entire face going pale as his body began to shake uncontrollably from fear and utter, horrible surprise. His eyes widened as he scrambled backwards before his back hit the wall, searching frantically for the gun that he couldn’t find. ‘ _No no no no no no this isn’t real this isn’t happening it’s not supposed to be happening-‘_ Gavin’s mind took control of his body, racking his whole body in quick breathes and frantic movements.

“Gavin?! What the he-“

But before Geoff could stand up a black pistol was being pointed at him, menacingly close to his temple as the figure came into sight, his striking blue eyes peering through the dark aura he seemed to give off. The tall man’s eyes shifted quickly from Geoff over to Gavin, a smug grin crossing his lips as his eyes scaled over Gavin.

“ _Is that any way to speak to your ex-lover, Gavvy boy?”_

 


End file.
